


Spirit's Shepard: The Sleeping

by Muirlyn



Series: Spirit's Shepard [1]
Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-05-02
Updated: 2014-05-23
Packaged: 2018-01-21 15:49:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,107
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1555739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Muirlyn/pseuds/Muirlyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the City-State of Citadel, There lives the long legacy of magic and it's study. There are a variety of Castes that those that live here belong to: The Witches, The Knights, The Alchemists. There are those that are different; those born out of those castes, and those born out side the city. This city is in the middle of a crisis that they do not see and it's up to Shepard to bring this issue to light and stop it before Citadel ends before they knew it was ending.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> AHHHH, Okay so I've been thinking about this for a while. It's a modern College Fantasy retelling of Mass Effect and hopefully, it'll be intense and fun!
> 
> The work is un-beta'd so. if you see error feel free to message me about them.  
> I hope you all enjoy!

Blinking, Shepard began to wake up. His vision blurry and obscured by darkness, His nose told a tale of flames and charred flesh. He touches his face, to see if he's hurt, only to feel nothing but the stick of dried tears. He began to move, his leg trapped under some furniture, when he heard footsteps.  With them came speech, though he could make out no words. 

"-- ere’s a  ch --" 

"--e nee--itch" 

He felt weight lift from his tiny limbs and came to see a woman's face, or at least he thought it was a woman, but he couldn't really see her. 

“oo ' are you?" Shepard mumbled "Where's mommy?" 

“Shhh, Hush now." The woman said, leaning towards him. "Sleep." 

Shepard's body suddenly felt heavy, sleepiness coming over every limb. He barely noticed he closed his eyes. 

\---- 

Shepard opened his eyes groggily, rolling over and stretching as his ears rang with the sound of his alarm.  Without turning too it, he waved his hand toward the clock, the sound shutting off with a click. 

"It really shouldn't be legal to have to wake up this early" He murmured to himself, looking out his window. He rolled over one more time but didn't count on already being near the edge, and fell off his bed. He huffed and laid there, soaking in his tired and now aching body.  

He slowly lifted himself off the ground, and walked with as minimal effort as possible to get to his closet. After getting putting his shirt on backward, tripping trying to his pants on, and not finding any god damn matching socks, he headed to the bathroom to wash out his cesspool of a mouth then head to the dining room.  

His nose smelled cinnamon rolls and sausage, pulling out his chair and placing every ounce of weight onto it as he sat, "God is real" he grinned as a plate was placed in front of him. 

"Eat quickly, Kid. You’re gonna be late" Anderson said wiping his hands of grease and sugar. 

"How are you so functional, David? It's 5 AM" the teen grumbled as he forked a sausage and taking a bite.  

"I always get up around now, you know that." The older man replied, pulling out his chair to eat. 

"Yes, but why?  I don't see how people do this, I feel like most of my body has atrophied." 

"That's because you don't stretch like you should" Anderson comments with a chuckle. 

"Hush, old man" Shepard smirked as he finished off the last of his sausage and was making his way toward his cinnamon rolls. 

"It's the Orange Crème ones you like." Anderson added.  

“Yessss “Shepard said making strange noises after his first bite. “Thank you, David." 

"It's not a problem, Crowley. Trying to treat you for your first solo patrol." Anderson ruffled the teenager's hair. "You earned it, Kid. I'm proud of you." 

Crowley, trying to hide his embarrassment in his breakfast pastries, replied. "Thanks David" 

Soon after leaving the house, He headed to his patrol rendezvous. Crowley, somehow being first to the patrol start location, called out, "Hades! Hear boy."  Soon, seemingly out of nowhere, a puppy made his way to Crowley, jumping on his leg and licking his hands as Crowley went down to pick him up. The familiar barked happily as his team began to arrive.  

\---- 

Crowley, beaten and bruised, barely escaped the Wurm. They weren't prepared.  They couldn't have been prepared.  The Akuze Forest was supposed to be simple, most definitely wasn't supposed to involve Wurms .  Crowley limped his way out of the forest, tears coming down his face, mixing with the blood, at the thought of how he lost more. He tried and he still lost them.  

Hades, now in a more wolf like form, was limping with him, pushing Crowley for him to keep moving. A familiar know what their witches are feeling, Hades wasn't going to let him give up.  

Crowley made it to the clearing, he fell to the ground in pain and exhausted, and using the last of his magic to fire a flare into the sky before passing out, Hades wisping into the ether as his magic was lost. 

"I'm sorry" He whimpered as he began to fade out from blood lose. It was another time be barley noticed his eyes close.


	2. 2B or not 2B

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SORRY  
> I kinda did a thing, where I deletes the old, broke it into two parts, and wrote one of those parts.  
> I've been thinking about the way the universe is set up and decided to CHANGE IT.
> 
> I'm hoping it's a stronger chapter, and that you enjoy.  
> Un-beta'd so please send any mistakes to me.

Crowley got pulled the rest of his things out of the trunk, looking onto the building of an Alliance sorority building, The Normandy.

University of Citadel is a much more complicated than the rest of the higher education facilities in the country. It spans the entire capital city which, un-coincidentally, is named Citadel City and is under the direct supervision of the Counsel, the political body that governs the entire country. Because of it's significance, the university is the only place to formerly become part of any military organization and receive specialized combat training, depending on training program. The training programs, based on the castes that founded them, are Knight, Witch, Alchemist,Vanguard, Warden, and Ranger. 

Though there is no Vanguard, Warden or Ranger castes, the other three are know as the pure programs because of their ties to the castes of the same name. They are the founding castes that help list the country to what it is today. The Witches, the first of the  castes, are a caste of all women, who were originally given the gift of magic. The Alchemists were second, those who sought to study magic and learn to harness it for those without the ability to manipulate it. The third are the Knights, who sought to protect the Witches, act as the arms to the soul and mind that was the other two castes. Because of this, a member of each of these castes is what makes up the council. 

Along with the training programs, the school also houses a complex caste driven co-ed sorority system. Each caste has a organization that governs their caste, these organizations donate to the school to create sororities for students. Sororities are not lifelong however, One can transfer between them if given permission by supervisors of sorority they wish to join. These groups go on missions together and do the will of the supervisor, which in most cases is the will of the organization that fund them.

"God dammit this school is complicated" Crowley mutters to the air, making his way to the suite he's staying in. Sophomore student of the Vanguard program, Crowley hopes that the suite is nicer than his last one. He doesn't really get to choose and just hopes the super, his step father, will show him mercy. He opens the door to find he's first to arrive, the suite untouched by any slob of a newly independent young adult. Later when he grunts to place the last box and bag of his things, he flops onto the couch, tired and unsettled by the stillness of the room. 

"Hadessss" He called out tired, reaching his hand to the ceiling in desperation. A pup barks happily and jumps onto him. "Oof--oh there you are" the 17 year old smiles, scratching the behind the ear of the tiny hound. Crowley's not entirely sure why he feigns ignorance as to where he was, familiars only show when their witches call them, but he enjoys acting like he has a real dog, "Better than a real dog, real one's shit everywhere." After playing with what is essentially himself for a while, he steps to the window to look on the campus, only to see someone making his way up to the Normandy. He looks at the guy, wondering if he should go down and help or talk but then remembers he's more of less is terrible at dealing with people so he decides he'll pass. Or he did, until he noticed a certain pup was down there bothering the poor man, "Fuck me."

He stumbles down the stairs in a hurry and calls out for his familiar. "Hadesss" He says authoritative voice, forgetting again that he's talking to himself. The hound looks at him in a way only Crowley would describe as 'indignant' before it fades away in wisps of smoky magic. "Sorry, He has a mind of his own, really."

"It's no problem" The other man says. He smiles, slight crinkle in his eyes "I love dogs."

"Uhm, uh, Do you need help?" Crowley asked more of less rhetorically after standing there for a bit looking dumb, pointing at the paler mans luggage. 

"Nah, I got it. Thanks." He adjusts his large backpack before picking up the box he put down to pet Hades. "So, uh, That was your familiar?"

"Yep, Hades, resident four legged busybody." Crowley said looking anywhere but at the others very nice, strong jawed face. "I have no idea where he gets that from" The other chuckled  as they approached the stairs.

"I'm Kaidan, by the way." He say looking down at his hand somehow surprised he can't find one to shake hands with.

"Oh! I'm, uhm" He did it, Crowley looked at his face. Kaidan is very attractive and Crowley both resented and loved it. "Crowley. Crowley Shepard." Kaidan looked up to look at him  with slight puzzle on his face, before shaking it off. Crowley, who had turned away to not look at his face, continued, "So, uh, what suite are you in?" all while hoping desperately that he doesn't say...

"2B" _F_ _uck._  

"Oh. uh. Great!" Crowley says while vowing to have a chat with Anderson "Welcome Suite-mate!" he said with as much false enthusiasm as he could muster. 

"You're in 2B too? Guess I'll be seeing way more of you, huh?" Kaidan smirked as though it was a joke

"Yeah" The younger responds dryly. "So, what program are you?" Crowley asks not knowing any other way to keep the awkward away.

"Warden, Freshmen." He says in a grunt from the room  _right_ next to Crowley's, putting down his things. "This is Argent." A deer struts out of the room, large and more or less out of place in a cramped suite's excuse of a hallway. 

"Oh. Hello Argent" Crowley looks at the deer, slightly awed by how large and beautiful the deer is before it wisped away in a foggy haze.

"What about you?" Kaidan called out as he stepped into the space the deer was. 

Crowley blinked, slightly traced, "Uhm. Vangaurd, Sophomore. N7"

Kaidan looked impressed "Nice, very impressive. All that at. . .?" He said leading Crowley to finish.

"17. I, uh, turn 18 in October" Crowley looked flustered, looking down a bit.

"Shit! Younger than me. That's really cool"

"Yeah" Shepard replies bashfully, "I get that a lot. . .That I'm younger." It's always been very awkward for Shepard because he's never been sure how to gracefully accept praise given the circumstances of some of these 'accomplishments'. More over, he doesn't wanna be seen as someone who flaunts success. To him, they're simply truths about his life.

"Shepard?" Kaidan pats Crowley's shoulder,the other seeming to be kind of lost, "You okay?"

Crowley turns to Kaidan's hand with a flinch before looking up at the taller man, "Uhm, Yeah, Sorry. Not very good at introductions. Or pe--"

He's interrupted by a loud steady beating at the door. They look at each other puzzled before the closer of the two, Shepard, moved in toward the door, "Coming!" He opens the door ready to speak but gets swiftly hushed by an all too familiar voice.

"Shepard! I see you've met one of your suitemates." David Anderson, standing in his Alliance uniform walks into the room followed by a dark skinned man, very broad shouldered, pointed features and sharp green eyes. Very obviously a Knight caste. The Knight has the symbol of the spectres on his chest. The college students look at him and hints worry can be seen on their bodies. 

"Da-David, Is something wrong?" Crowley says almost having said 'dad' in front of two people that he doesn't know. And David. Nope, not having that conversation. 

"Actually yes, there is a problem in the town of Eden Prime." The Knight replies, his voice seeming to echo through witches' bodies.

"This is Council Spectre Nihlus, He will be heading there to investigate." Anderson introduces.

"Well that's well and g--" Crowley  tries to reply.

"And you two will be accompanying me" Nihlus says with a smirk on his face.

"What, why?" Crowley questions.

"Your other suite mate lives there. You'll be picking them up while you investigate." Anderson joins the smirking-older-shits team. Crowley simply sighs exasperatedly, turning to Kaidan who just looks shocked and confused. "Same" 


End file.
